InvenTrust Properties Out of the Student Housing Business

Oak Brook, Ill.—InvenTrust Properties Corp. is divesting itself of its student housing portfolio. Under the terms of a purchase agreement with UHC Acquisition Sub LLC, that entity will acquire InvenTrust’s student housing platform, University House Communities Group Inc.

The buyer is a subsidiary of a joint venture between Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC and Scion Communities Investors LLC. The purchase agreement’s gross all-cash value is $1.4 billion.

The deal is expected to close in mid-2016. InvenTrust said it intends to “explore all options” regarding the net proceeds from the University House transaction.

InvenTrust created University House Communities nine years ago to focus on student housing. It owns 16 student housing properties in university markets across the United States, including in Florida, Oregon, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, California and Arizona, for a total of 9,600 beds.

This isn’t the first major change for InvenTrust. Last year it changed its name from Inland American, which had become self-managed REIT in early 2014 after separating from its sponsor. The sale of its student housing will mean that the company now has a pure-play focus on retail properties. The REIT’s retail portfolio contains about 19 million square feet.